This week’s mystery movie has been the 1943 film “The Kansan,” with Richard Dix, Jane Wyatt, Albert Dekker, Eugene Pallette, Victor Jory, Robert Armstrong, Beryl Wallace, Clem Bevans, Hobart Cavanaugh, Francis McDonald, Willie Best, Douglas Fowley, Rod Cameron, Eddy Waller and Ralphael Bennett. The screenplay was written by Harold Shumate from the story “Peace Marshal” by Frank Gruber. It was photographed by Russell Harlan, with music by Gerard Carbonara, art direction by Ralph Berger, edited by Carroll Lewis and set decoration by Emile Kuri. The song “Lullaby of the Herd” was by Foster Carling and Phil Ohman, sung by the King’s Men. The film was produced by Harry Sherman and directed by George Archainbaud. It was released through United Artists.

Rough and ready is this western story, which is glorified by picturesque scenery, fast riding and the familiar six-shooter bombardment…. Notwithstanding its elements are not unusual, “The Kansan” is a good picture of the type. It will cause you to root for the hero, approve the guy who goes straight after being in league with the heavies, react most favorably to the quality which Miss Wyatt brings to the environment as heroine, for she certainly typifies class in this picture.

Writing in the New York Times (Oct. 1, 1943) T.S. said:

Another popgun chorus has arrived at the Rialto, with Richard Dix conducting, and it is called “The Kansan.” Not that the name matters much, for it is a strictly assembly-line Western, with all the cues in place. Mr. Dix, with a face that still looks as if it might have been carved out of Mount Rushmore, stalks the cow-town of Broken Lance, every inch a marshal. There is the usual crop of corrupt local bigwigs, the fracas over fences, mad pursuits with horsemen thundering across the skyline, and the final free-for-all in a barricaded Main Street—in short, the kind of Western in which the cast decreases almost as rapidly as a pay check on Saturday night.

And for Wednesday, we have a murky mystery chap. This shows why I don’t do many Westerns. Even with a fair amount of digital hocus pocus, the images are usually terrible. A certain longtime actor, much beloved by the Brain Trust, is sadly unrecognizable in this print….

Update: This is Walter Baldwin.

So here is he is, in a picture from the era in which you can see him plainly.

Update: This is a promotional picture for the “The Blackouts of 1944” with Jack Mulhall and Gloria Gilbert.

On Thursday we have Willie Best whispering(?) in Victor Jory’s ear likely counseling caution. The guy crouching behind the wheel of a wagon which appears to be carrying an enormous watermelon is a mystery to me (Pierce Lyden?). Then we have Jack Mulhall chatting with a pretty girl who I hope is Beryl Wallace.

Wednesday’s murky mystery chap is the unrecognizable Jack Mulhall. On Thursday we have Victor Jory and Willie Best, George Reeves who is about to see if someone is faster than a speeding bullet and an even less recognizable Jack Mulhall.